A clever twist on the superhero genre. Thoughtful, funny and fresh. I’m looking forward to more from the author.

Pop culture and superheroes go hand-in-hand. There’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe, of course, and so many reboots and reincarnations of Batman over the years that I’m daunted by the task of counting them all. Hench’s main character, Anna, however, would likely know the number–she’s a spreadsheet aficionado who lives in a world much like ours except that superheroes and supervillains are real, an almost mundane addition to everyday life.

Superheroes and supervillains, however, aren’t all they’re cracked up to be in Anna’s world. And in this vein, Natalie Zina Walschots’ Hench is similar to the comic book series and recent television adaptation of The Boys, where a corporate conglomeration uses superpowered people as (among other things) a product to sell to the masses.


The Boys paints a darker picture of how injecting superpowered people into society would actually play out, but the story Walschots tells us is far from rosy. In Hench, we follow the journey of Anna, a number-cruncher who works for a temp agency that provides staffing support for villains. (Similar to The Boys, the superpowered heroes and villains each have organizational enterprises that shape and influence their impact on society.)

At the beginning of the novel, Anna is a nobody. And like many of us fellow nobodies, she is largely unmotivated by the day jobs she jumps from. She also has no real friends except for June, a moderately-powered person who the temp agency assigns to villains who can take advantage of her superheightened sense of smell.

[rest of review at tor.com link below]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Hench is is the origin story you never knew you needed. The story follows Anna, a Hench person for super villains who can’t seem to catch a break- that is until a run in with a hero leaves her leg shattered, and her prospects sparse. The story goes in some really interesting directions from there, let me tell you.

There are few books that I feel so genuinely conflicted about. I have been debating a star rating, and still am not fully settled on the 3.5 stars I have given the novel. The concept of this book is so well executed and explored. I found the world to be so fascinating and well done, I couldn’t get enough of it. My only complaint about the world building is that I wanted more of it! In addition to that, the protagonist (or anti-hero, I guess) is very personable and intelligent. I think this book has a lot of very strong female characters, which is also awesome.

All that being said, the pacing was all over the place for me, right up to the very end. I would be super engaged, and then super disinterested, and that happened a handful of times. I also felt that the ending was quite unsatisfying, at least for me personally. I definitely get what the author was trying to do, but I found myself saying “wait, that’s it?” when I was finished. She is apparently considering writing a sequel, which I would definitely read, as I feel it could make redeem the overall story at play.

I think this story has a lot of fun with its idea, and the concept is brought to life with great success. I had some issues with the author’s narrative choices, but overall, I would recommend you try this book out for yourself!

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for an early copy of this book. Sorry it’s so late. 😅

It's not often I rate a book 5/5 - I try to reserve those perfect ratings for books that either push their genre to new places or create an entirely new genre of their own.  Hench falls strongly into the second category, creating a subgenre of "superheros but the villains are actually people, and the better people" that I can only hope other authors with as much skill and passion are able to help fill.  Walschots does an amazing job at worldbuilding - it's almost too easy to see her developments and changes happening in our world.  Her characters feel lifelike, with their flaws and decisions traceable to accidents and situations from their past that have been allowed to fester and grow authentically.  Walschots also is able to inject social commentary into her fantastic novel, forcing the reader to examine the idea of "who watches the watchers" or "who guards the guards" - an important concept in today's society.  All in all, Hench is a fantastic novel that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone.

I picked this up specifically because I was looking for some supervillain/henchwoman vibes, and this book gave it to me, albeit in very tiny increments. We follow Anna in Comic Book Universe, where superheroes wreak havoc on ordinary people's lives. After an encounter with a superhero shatters Anna's femur, she begins investigating the numerical cost associated with superheroes: she's big on data and spreadsheets. It's basically her superpower. Her work catches the attention of Leviathan, a supervillain, who hires her to work for him, and she eventually works her way up to become his most trusted lieutenant by sabotaging heroes.

As we march along this sometimes slow-burn plot, there's some light discussions of heroism vs villainy and a lot of dark humor and some intense visceral violence (especially at the very end, hoo boy). I enjoy the superhero genre pretty casually, but I really love interrogations of the stark realities of the existence of superheroes. It's like, remember that Superman movie, where Superman utterly annihilated Manhattan as he was fighting? Anna pulls the data on all of that.

I really enjoyed Anna as a character; she's resilient, resentful, and brilliant. Loved her relationship with Leviathan, though I wish we'd gotten a bit more of it, particularly at the end (though it seems we're setting up for a sequel?). Also loved the casual diversity in this book!

I have no idea why fantasy representations of bureaucracy hit a real sweet spot for me but I love them, okay? Give me a novel where people with superpowers have spreadsheet making montages, and there's no way I'm not going to throw some stars at it. It's my jam!

I normally prefer my fantasy bureaucracy to be mixed with comedy, but this one mixed it with "a righteous send up of elements of society categorized as good vs. evil" and that also really worked.

Hench gives a crazy behind the scenes look at the  unsung villains of the criminal mastermind world, the henches/henchpeople (gender-neutral version of henchmen) that enable the nefarious plots and schemes, and often get punched out by the heroes while their boss escapes.
For fans of when Homer Simpson went to work for Hank Scorpio, we follow Anna Traumedlove as she rises in the ranks from the hench temp agency competing for data entry jobs to more fieldwork and becoming invaluable to a cyborg supervillian named Leviathan.
She goes through many changes and meets crazy characters, while also taking some of the hard looks at the collateral damage of superheroes that you see in recent MCU and DCU properties, especially in this world that has a whole corporate spin control in place doing PR and support for heroes and shuffling aside the issues of property damage, injuries, etc. caused by these crazy battles.
A great mix of humor, tech, action, and character work -- lots of fun and well-deserving its accolades.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development was subtle in a myriad of ways, and the plot moves along quickly enough to keep interest. I could have used a little more expansion around the ending of the book, but on the whole found the experience very enjoyable.

An interesting perspective in the broader superhero genre. Hench follows Anna, a temp who gets hired to be a henchman by a supervillain by the name of Leviathan. Equipped with technological skills (including Excel proficiency) and a hatred of superheroes, Anna sets out to ruin the reputation of superheroes and showcase the damage they create. A great exploration of the behind the scenes work normally omitted from these stories.

A fun twist on the superhero genre.  Anna is a hench, which means she contracts for the villains, just to make a living.  But, when she literally gets caught in the crossfire, she starts to reexamine who the real bad guy might be.  Her mathematical calculations start to reveal that the heroes might not be as heroic as everyone once thought, and she discovers that her data can be used to change the world.  With complex characters, a plot that delivers surprises that subvert the traditional genre, and a dash of sarcastic humor to lighten the mood, this one will be sure to please.

More exciting than I expected. Reminded me of The Boys. I think the punishment of the main hero was a bit much.  ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

4.5. In an already bloated genre, it's difficult to find media that subvert the traditional superhero-awe mentality without incorporating toxic masculinity. Walschots has managed to do so, and she does it well.

The tonal shift at the beginning may deceive the readers; it starts with a sardonic examination of the world of "temp" work for supervillains. Anna exudes sarcasm and shares her grievances with best friend June in a humorous yet self-deprecating way; I thought this would continue through the rest of the book, but an incident with a hero spurs Anna in motion. What follows is an incredibly detailed account of Anna's professional journey as a villain "auditor." Walschots excels at creating compelling side characters; when Anna's personal life falters, she finds strength in her professional relationships, some of which develop into strong friendships. The pacing is slow at times, but it works well in the spots where Walscots describes Anna's operation. The ending is brutal, and it only makes me want to read more about Anna.

If you're a fan of the anti-hero and don't mind reading another villain-centered story, this one's for you.

I went into this with a poor grasp of the plot, thinking it was from the perspective of a superhero. It’s an interesting take on the superhero industry, but I struggled to get connected with the protagonist and couldn’t stick with it. I stopped about a quarter in but appreciate the chance to review!

Anna is a low-level henchwoman-for-hire when she becomes an accidental casualty in one of hero Supercollider's rescues. Laid up with a spiral fracture to her leg, Anna starts running the numbers on how much property damage and loss of life these heroes cost the city. Before long, she has started a blog and gained the attention of Leviathan, a supervillain who thinks she has potential. Next thing she knows, Anna is climbing up the villainous corporate ladder, scheming against heroes while manipulating her spreadsheets.

This is a wonderfully creative book that manages to examine both the nature of heroes and cubicle life, with plenty of feminist snark and humor to boot. Fans of Catherynne Valente's The Refrigerator Monologues and Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible will LOVE this book.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

So there are some issues here: the writing can be weirdly twee leading to some tonal issues in places, there are some very strange pacing choices, a lot of backstory (particularly as it pertains to Anna's eventual boss and the whole superhero mechanism that is the Draft) gets glossed over rather than fully explained which deprives some of the climactic moments of their full impact, and the author has an odd habit - perhaps changed in the final version - of ending lines of dialogue that are clearly questions with periods. And - perhaps most significantly - there's the fact that there were so many things that could've been delved into more completely (such as: capitalism driving people to literal villainy) that you can actually feel the loss of these opportunities as gaping holes in the narrative.

And yet, despite all this, the book works. And it works because the author devotes most of the story to the singularly satisfying character arc of a run-of-the-mill data entry clerk turning into an archvillain. Not only that, but she does it in such a way that - despite the tech involved, not the mention the superpowers - it never reads as over the top. Anna's transformation into the Auditor is so logical and matter-of-fact it's brilliant. And it's honestly everything I hoped this story would be. For that reason - and also for the fact that this book is just plain entertaining - I can handwave the other issues that bothered me.

If you're looking for a fun birth of a villain story: look no further. This will definitely entertain.

Book review: Root for the villain in 'Hench'
By ASHLEY RIGGLESON FOR THE FREE LANCE–STAR Sep 26, 2020
My siblings always tease me because I am not a fan of superhero movies. Given the premise of Natalie Zina Walschots’ début novel, “Hench,” I was not sure I would enjoy this, either. But to my surprise, I loved this novel.

From the outset, Walschots turns the premise of the typical superhero narrative on its head as she tells the story of Anna Tromedlov, a woman who is, simply put, a villain. As the novel opens, readers find Anna seeking temp work as a Hench, otherwise known as a person who provides support for other bigger name super villains. She soon finds work doing data entry for an upcoming villain called Electric Eel. This is the kind of work Anna prefers. It is not dangerous, and she does not have to get her hands dirty.

As time passes, however, Electric Eel becomes increasingly interested in Anna, and she soon finds herself on the sidelines while Electric Eel tests the “Mood Ring” (a mind control device) on the mayor’s son. As with many superhero stories, the hero, Supercollider, bursts in just in the nick of time to save the child. Unfortunately, Anna is severely injured during the encounter. As she slowly and painfully recovers, Anna becomes increasingly interested in quantifying the amount of damage superheroes cause in the ordinary course of their lives. And Anna soon becomes a new type of villain, a villain for the media age.

I was not sure what to expect from a novel about a villainous data analyst, but Walschots surprised and astonished me at every turn. Although Anna is a villain, readers will find themselves truly rooting for her. She’s a delight—smart, snarky, determined and surprisingly kind. The plot is also utterly escapist and guaranteed to keep readers entertained until the last page.

Though “Hench” is set in a reality very different from our own, Walschots’ novel seems to perfectly fit our times, pulling us away from our current stresses and maintaining a perfect balance of relentless pacing and though-provoking reflections. While “Hench” is obviously concerned with themes related to disability and revenge, Walschots also engages in a pertinent discussion about how the narratives surrounding superheroes contribute to their personas and demonstrates that heroes are instrumental in creating their own villains.

This review was originally published in the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, VA..

This is a vengeful, angry book brimming over, and whatever you’re prepared for heading into this based on plot summary alone I guarantee the story is going to throw you for a loop. Anna is a self-described “hench,” someone who winds up mostly temping for lower-tier supervillains — but a devastating encounter with one of the glorified heroes leaves her licking her wounds and trying to understand how it all went wrong. Enter her predilection for data analysis combined with a personal vendetta and she’s got a formula in place for how superheroes actually do as much to hurt the world as they do to save it. Hers is a perspective we don’t often get in genre fiction — she’s more complex than a bad guy but she’s definitely not a good one either, and her wrestling attempts to reconcile her efforts to take down the heroes of the world along with the drive of own vengeance mission pair for a really satisfying read.

A side note: this book is VERY gory at times, brutal in its visual descriptions especially in terms of battle violence and sustained injuries, so if you’re particularly squeamish, that’s just something to keep in mind.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a story that plays with tropes and this one asks you to question who is Good and who is Bad in all the best ways. This world shows us more what a world would be like with super heroes more so than other narratives ever could. This book takes you there. And then shows you that sometimes true power comes from crunching the numbers. The ending seems inevitable and yet you watch it happen with eyes wide with horror. I loved this book and would love six more. Read this if you, like me, have read thousands of hours of gritty superhero fan fiction wanting more.

Hench
By Natalie Zina Walschots

This was not my cup of tea. I do enjoy superhero movies, but I don’t read the books. That being said, this will appeal to YA audiences, readers of the genre, and especially those who root for the villains. I think the message is that not everyone is 100% good or evil. 

Even though I didn’t care for it, I think many comic fans will, hence 4 stars for Hench.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.